February 4th

16: 20-22 – The goat that is set free into the wilderness is where we get the term “scapegoat”. All the sins were placed on this goat though none were actually his.

17: 9 – What it meant to be “cut off from your people” is uncertain. Some thoughts are that it entailed the death penalty, or a curse to die young and childless, or to be excommunicated from your people.

17: 10-16- Seems like a weird rule, but blood is a very common traditional food in a lot of cultures. Gross as it sounds to us, blood is very nutritious and people in the ancient world generally couldn’t afford to let such a valuable source of calories, protein and iron go to waste. In the Bible, blood is highly symbolic: it’s used to represent the soul or life-force( yes I know that sounds hippy-ish) of animals and people, and in the Temple/Tabernacle it’s used in a number of sacred rituals. God is forbidding his people from profaning something sacred.

18:4-5- The reason we should follow God’s laws is simple – because he is the Lord our God.